Financially prudent individuals help develop financial plans that will aid them in achieving their financial goals. More recently, some individuals have increasingly relied upon computer-based systems that organize their financial assets and liabilities and further provide them with a summary of their financial health. However, these systems tend to focus on the administrative aspects of financial planning without enabling the user to make reasoned choices about their financial futures. To do so the user needs a financial tool that approaches modeling from an executive decision-making perspective.
Traditionally, individuals investors had to rely on an investment advisor to manage their investment portfolio. Although an investment advisor is a valuable ingredient in helping the user achieve his prospective financial goals, investment advisors can be very expensive. In fact, investors who traditionally use a personal fund manager or advisor generally have portfolios in excess of several million dollars. An advisor spends a great deal of his expensive time in ascertaining the user's goals, market attitude, preferences and risk tolerance. The advisor then accumulates all the financial information regarding the user and model his investment portfolio. A thorough investigation is required in order to dispense good advice taking the user's tax liability, life style, expenses or unforeseen events into account as well as the user's financial goals. This process is expensive and thus an unavailable option for the majority of investors.
Furthermore, the availability and access to a human advisor may be less than ideal. A human advisor need sleep, get sick, takes vacations, etc.
In view of the forgoing, systems and computer methods are needed to automate many of the functions traditionally performed by live advisors. Automated financial coaching would therefore reduce costs, and make financial advising more accessible to individuals of more modest means.